Dr. Mai Brooks Gastric Cancer Insight

Dr. Mai Brooks has had experience dealing with several variations of cancer.  Gastric cancer has become a growing danger and in the United States in 2014, there will be an estimated 22,220 new cases of gastric cancer.  Also in 2014, approximately 10,990 people will die from this malignancy.  In other countries, gastric cancer is much more prevalent.  In Japan, it is the most common type of malignancy in men.  The incidence of gastric cancer is much higher in China than in any other country.  There is no screening program in the US for this disease.  Therefore, gastric cancer is usually diagnosed when the patient develops symptoms.  Risk factors include H. pylori infection, smoking, and heavy alcohol use.

Surgery is the primary and most effective treatment for early gastric cancer.  Yet, only about 50% of patients were able to have complete resection of their tumor with negative margins (an adequate rim of normal tissue around the cancer).  Gastric cancer is considered unresectable if:  1) there is distant metastasis (for example, to liver or lungs); 2) spread into the abdomen; 3) encasement of major blood vessels in the abdomen; or 4) involvement of many lymph nodes.  Sometimes, even when the disease is incurable, surgery is still done for relief of obstruction or bleeding. 

For selected patients with gastric cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is given before surgery.  This is done to shrink the tumor, so to maximize the chance that surgery would be successful.  This treatment includes epirubicin, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (ECF).  In other cases, chemotherapy and radiation may be offered after surgery if the cancer is deep/large, or if lymph nodes are involved.   In cases where the cancer is deemed unresectable or has metastasized to distant organs, chemotherapy is recommended as palliative therapy.

There is active research to discover new and more effective therapies for this deadly disease.  Patients are highly encouraged to participate in clinical trials in the fight for better treatments for gastric cancer.

Dr. Mai Brooks is a Board Certified Surgical Oncologist with offices in Thousand Oaks, CA. To request an appointment with Dr. Brooks, you may call her at (805) 379-4677 or visit her website.